What doesn’t last forever is inspiration. Inspiration is like fresh fruit or milk: It has an expiration date.
If you want to do something, you’ve got to do it now. You can’t put it on a shelf and wait two months to get around to it. You can’t just say you’ll do it later. Later, you won’t be pumped up about it anymore.
If you’re inspired on a Friday, swear off the weekend and dive into the project. When you’re high on inspiration, you can get two weeks of work done in twenty-four hours. Inspiration is a time machine in that way.
Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity multiplier, a motivator. But it won’t wait for you. Inspiration is a now thing. If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work.
Thank you for reading our book
We hope it inspires you to rework how you do things. If so, drop a line to rework@37signals.com and let us know how it’s going. We look forward to hearing from you.
CHAPTER
RESOURCES
About 37signals
37signals
www.37signals.com
About 37signals and our products.
Rework site
www.37signals.com/rework
The official book site.
Signal vs. Noise
www.37signals.com/svn
Our company blog about business, design, culture, and more.
37signals video
www.37signals.com/speaks
Presentations and rants by 37signals.
Subscribe to 37signals newsletters
www.37signals.com/subscribe
Newsletter about new products, discounts, and more (sent out roughly twice a month).
www.37signals.com/stuffwelike
A list of books, sites, and other things that we enjoy.
E-mail
rework@37signals.com
37signals products
Basecamp
www.basecamphq.com
Manage projects and collaborate with your team and clients.
Highrise
www.highrisehq.com
Track your contacts, leads, and deals. Always be prepared.
Backpack
www.backpackit.com
Organize and share information across your business.
Campfire
www.campfirenow.com
Real-time chat and file and code sharing for remote teams.
Ta-da List
www.tadalist.com
Ta-da List makes it easy to create and share your to-do’s.
Writeboard
www.writeboard.com
Writeboard is a collaborative writing tool.
gettingreal.37signals.com
This book by 37signals will help you discover the smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful Web-based application.
Ruby on Rails
www.rubyonrails.org
An open-source Web framework created by 37signals.
Acknowledgments
Very special thanks go to Matthew Linderman. Matt was 37signals’ first employee in 1999—and he’s still with the company today. This book wouldn’t have come together without Matt. In addition to writing original content, he helped merge the distinctly different writing styles of the coauthors into a focused, cohesive book. He made it look easy, but it wasn’t easy work. Thank you, Matt.
We also want to thank our families, our customers, and everyone at 37signals. And here’s a list of some of the people we know, and don’t know, who have inspired us in one way or another:
Frank Lloyd Wright Seth Godin
Warren Buffett Jamie Larson
Clayton Christensen Ralph Nader
Jim Coudal Benjamin Franklin
Ernest Kim Jeff Bezos
Scott Heiferman Antoni Gaudi
Carlos Segura Larry David
Steve Jobs Dean Kamen
Bill Maher Thomas Jefferson
Mies van der Rohe Ricardo Semler
Christopher Alexander James Dyson
Kent Beck Thomas Paine
Gerald Weinberg Kathy Sierra
Julia Child Marc Hedlund
Nicholas Karavites Michael Jordan
Dieter Rams Judith Sheindlin
Ron Paul Timothy Ferriss
Copyright © 2010 by 37signals, LLC.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown Business of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
CROWN and the Crown colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
This book is available for special discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions or premiums. Special editions, including personalized covers, excerpts of existing books, and corporate imprints, can be created in large quantities for special needs. For more information, write to Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fried, Jason.
Rework / Jason Fried and David Hansson.—1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Industrial management. 2. 37signals—company.
I. Hansson, David Heinemeier. II. Title.
HD31.F755 2010
658.22—dc22 2009036114
eISBN: 978-0-307-46376-0
rohdesign.com
v3.0